By Joel Currier
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis fire squad’s satisfaction after rescuing two young girls from a house fire Friday morning quickly changed to sorrow after learning one of them died despite their efforts.
Firefighters found a frantic mother, 29, and a 33-year-old man she lived with outside their burning house shortly after 5 a.m. Friday. They told them her two girls were trapped inside.
Three firefighters rushed inside to find them through heavy black smoke, hearing their screams for help from an upstairs bedroom.
One was still awake, the other unconscious as firefighters carried them out to a running ambulance outside the burning Hyde Park home in the 3900 block of North 21st Street.
Cadis Strong, 7, later died at the hospital. A 6-year-old girl rescued from the same room as Cadis was critically injured and was breathing with help from a respirator Friday.
“They did everything they possibly could to win this battle.” St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said Friday. “We thought we had won this battle. We don’t like to get beat.”
The probable source of the fire was two space heaters plugged into the same outlet in a rear upstairs room, Jenkerson said.
It’s not clear if the adults in the house were unable to reach the children before firefighters arrived but Jenkerson said firefighters suspect the adults were forced out by heavy smoke.
The house had no working smoke detectors, Jenkerson said. He didn’t know if the house had any working utilities other than electricity.
Friday’s fatal fire comes the same day the department is taking part in a Heat Up St. Louis fundraiser at Hardee’s restaurants around the St. Louis region to raise money for families struggle to pay heating bills in cold weather months.
Cadis is at least the fifth person to die in house fires in St. Louis city and county this year.
Jenkerson said the department routinely discourages people from using alternative heating sources, such as space heaters, hot plates and other heat-generating devices.
He said the department will step up its awareness campaign to inform the public that the department distributes and installs smoke detectors for free. Anyone needing them can call 314-289-1900 to request one.
“I can’t see any reason not to have a working smoke detector when it’s the law in the city of St. Louis,” he said.
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